small plugs

[Redfisher]

Any thoughts on whether the small Tomic plugs (4") benefit from pulling the pins like the larger plugs? I fish all my larger plugs with pins pulled (lots of discussion on this over the years) but have left the little plugs alone with pins in. Thinking of trying to fish them in the Gulf more rather than small spoons but before I pull them I am looking for thoughts from those of you fishing the "little pluggers".

thanks

 

[spring fever]

I pull all pins- habit I guess but if you do happen to break off on a favourite plug you have a good chance of retrieving it. I also feel the plug tracks better and has better action.

 

[plugger]

Redfisher, I fish the 4" plugs winter and summer here in Powell River, and always pull the pins. Even when the large herring are around those small plugs produce. I have been using the 4" tubbys also and they have been great, some good colors around here are 602 ps, 700, 407, 433, bump up your speed a bit and have some fun !

 

[fshnfnatic]

I pull all pins- habit I guess but if you do happen to break off on a favourite plug you have a good chance of retrieving it. I also feel the plug tracks better and has better action.

This.We fish the 4" Tomics in Cowichan Lake with the pins pulled with no issues at all.And like SF has also stated,you
stand a better chance of retrieving it if you do break off for whatever reason.This is the main reason we pull them,as
we troll very close to shore in the winter months and encounter lots of snags.

 

[Redfisher]

I normally fish my bigger plugs at anywhere from 50' to 100 from the downrigger ball depending on water clarity.

Plugger how far back of the ball do you fish your 4"? (like the look of the 433). I recently bought a batch of 4" plugs from a commercial guy and am going to start using them. I have some nice brown (94, 72, 232) and some interesting green colours that I want to try.

 

[plugger]

Morning Redfish, You will find you get a wider range of movement the further back you run your plug, that being said i'm cautious of how far I run my gear back as you can cross your lines. I usually have my plugs out around 40 ft or so and my speed is around 2.4 - 2.7 mph.

There are a lot of great colors out these days from Tomic, we got a real nice fish yesterday on a 4" 407 glow, and the 232 you mention is also a great plug, enjoy !

 

[Highliner]

When running a plug so far back and at a faster speed , I wonder how deep the plug is actually fishing. I wouldn't be surprised if the real depth was less than half of what the cannon ball is at. Any physicists out there care to comment?

 

[Highliner]

Also , does anyone have success running a tubby sized plug along side other gear? I rarely fish plugs cause I'm the only one on the boat that wants to frag one. I understand tubbies have a faster action (can be run slower), but could they be fished opposite of bait?

 

[hambone]

Not the most experienced plug fishermen, but yes you can definitely fish the tubby with other gear.

Works just fine in Nootka anyways... Caught salmon and Hali on a tubby while also fishing hoochies, spoons, bait.

Plugs dig in with their nose, so the depth would be somewhat similar to the cannon ball depth I would think.

 

[Highliner]

I picked up some tubbies a couple of summers ago, but in my case it's a question of confidence. I've only pulled them a couple of times without success. I'm never that confident when trolling them with other gear/bait.

 

[Sharphooks]

Not to hi-jack the "small plugs" thread but in my experience, speed is not such a big issue when there are lots of fish around. I always troll slooooow because I'm a bait guy. In fact, that's part of the reason I fish off by myself in a corner like the classroom dunce ---if I get around guys running gear, invariably they're going twice the speed I'm going and all I do is **** them off

But I've had multiple trips out of Uke when I had another guy in the boat who was running plugs on his side while I ran bait on my side. I never varied my normal bait speed and we ended up having doubles the whole trip. But that was out on the La Perouse prairie and it was STUPID with fish

It seems like when it's scratchy or when you're up close and personal with the cliffs and kelp beds, a slow speed mixed with plugs and bait seems to get you this:





way more times then that:

 

[Redfisher]

I like fishing a plug alongside the older commercial spoons on the west coast. Big gear = big fish. The heavier spoons can easily be trolled faster so they work fine together. I trolled when I was younger with my dad and you can't always slow a commercial boat down, springs will bite going way faster than most people are aware.

My dad trolled in the Gulf each spring in the 60's and 70's. A typical "line" in the Gulf for us fishing springs this time of year had a long plug leader on the bottom (40'), a short flasher/hootchie (12') 18 feet above and a single spoon (12' leader) 18 feet above that. Fished 6 lines all with similar type combinations. Didn't want a ton of flashers down if the water was clear as it spooked the big slabs. Most of the big slabs we got on the bottom plugs. If we put a flasher at the bottom we often had scrap fish.

That being said the smaller plugs are my interest point. We never fished under 5" in the Gulf but with smaller bait being around more I wonder if they would work as well as the numerous Coyote, TKO or Silver Horde spoons which everyone is having success with now. I may paint a "strip of glow" along the bottom of a few of the better colours as that is the only real significant change that I see in the newer gear that really makes sense to me. Colours are water colour and bait dependent but "glow" is a bonus feature for deeper fishing we never used to have.

 

[fishin_magician]

When running a plug so far back and at a faster speed , I wonder how deep the plug is actually fishing. I wouldn't be surprised if the real depth was less than half of what the cannon ball is at. Any physicists out there care to comment?

If that is the case, then you are fishing way too slow.

Take the following example.. If you have 50' of cable out, are clipping along at 3 mph and your cable is at a 45 degree angle and you are running your plug at 40 feet back, the plug will be at least 40 feet deep, and quite probably 45 feet deep. The water moving across the nose of the plug should be driving the plug to the same depth or deeper than the ball.

The plug should be biting and pulling hard creating the darting action.

 

[fishin_magician]

I like fishing a plug alongside the older commercial spoons on the west coast. Big gear = big fish. The heavier spoons can easily be trolled faster so they work fine together. I trolled when I was younger with my dad and you can't always slow a commercial boat down, springs will bite going way faster than most people are aware.

My dad trolled in the Gulf each spring in the 60's and 70's. A typical "line" in the Gulf for us fishing springs this time of year had a long plug leader on the bottom (40'), a short flasher/hootchie (12') 18 feet above and a single spoon (12' leader) 18 feet above that. Fished 6 lines all with similar type combinations. Didn't want a ton of flashers down if the water was clear as it spooked the big slabs. Most of the big slabs we got on the bottom plugs. If we put a flasher at the bottom we often had scrap fish.

That being said the smaller plugs are my interest point. We never fished under 5" in the Gulf but with smaller bait being around more I wonder if they would work as well as the numerous Coyote, TKO or Silver Horde spoons which everyone is having success with now. I may paint a "strip of glow" along the bottom of a few of the better colours as that is the only real significant change that I see in the newer gear that really makes sense to me. Colours are water colour and bait dependent but "glow" is a bonus feature for deeper fishing we never used to have.

X 2 on that post.

Last May on a Gulf Islands Trip I fished a Size 7 Superior and hooked several undersize Chinooks on a massive 7/0 Clawpoint hook. I took the spoon off for conservation reasons. If there are fish around, you'll catch them on anything however but small definitely slays when the "match the hatch" factor matters some days.

 

[capt hook]

when I commie trolled and the fishing was a bit scratchy and or strong currents we would load up and alternate spoon , plug, spoon ,plug and go like hell and cover lots of ground , when we found fish then maybe change over to a few flashers....
remember a few times hauling butt around a point and hit a back eddy and boooom ,!!!!
if your looking for fish cover ground fast !

 

[Highliner]

If that is the case, then you are fishing way too slow.

Take the following example.. If you have 50' of cable out, are clipping along at 3 mph and your cable is at a 45 degree angle and you are running your plug at 40 feet back, the plug will be at least 40 feet deep, and quite probably 45 feet deep. The water moving across the nose of the plug should be driving the plug to the same depth or deeper than the ball.

The plug should be biting and pulling hard creating the darting action.

Right, of course. *brain fart*. I forgot about the fact that a plug will dive against the current. I was just imagining the plug being pulled way back of the cannon ball (100 ft).

 

[Tugcapitan]

I've fished lots of 4" plugs alongside Tubby's and 7"ers. They work just as well. I don't think I've ever put mine much more than 20' behind the cable tho.
I've hit fish with the kicker cranked up while dodging debris or boats, as well as stopped dead in the water leaving the line down as long as possible with a fish on the other one. It all works when they are hungry

 

[Tugcapitan]

Oh right, the original question. Yes you can fish plugs with bait, if the bait is in teaser heads. Cut plugs maybe not so much as far as most effective speed for plugs.